The Sun Field

by Heywood Broun, Darryl Brock (Introduction)

A long out of print novel (originally published in 1923 and never reprinted), with a new introduction by best selling novelist Darryl Brock (author of "If I Never Get Back"). Heywood Campbell Broun was a well known American newspaper writer, who helped found the American Newspaper Guild. Broun championed the underdog, criticized social injustice, and supported labor unions. He died in 1939. The Sun Field is a very modern novel, with a strong feminist character, a complicated love story, and New York baseball of the 1920's at its center, with another lead character plainly modeled on Babe Ruth. Broun was a sportswriter, whose love of baseball and brilliant writing style shines through this book. A treat for contemporary readers.

Genres: Fiction

142 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2008

About the author

Heywood Campbell Broun was an American newspaper columnist and critic, best known for his strong stance against social injustice, and his long-running column "It Seems to Me." Broun worked for the New York Tribune from 1912 to 1921, and the New York World from 1921 to 1928, where his "It Seems to Me" column began. In 1928 he transferred to the New York World-Telegram, where "It Seems to Me" appeared until he moved to the New York Post near the end of his life. Broun was a founder of the American Newspaper Guild, and its first president, from 1933 until his death. Broun regularly used his column to defend the underdog, point out social injustice, and back various labor unions. And in 1930 he ran unsuccessfully for congress on the Socialist ticket.

Broun was also a member of the Algonquin Round Table, an informal literary group that met regularly at the Algonquin Hotel in New York City, from its inception in 1919 to its decline in 1929. In 1917 Broun married writer and feminist Ruth Hale, and their only child, Heywood Hale Broun, grew up to be a television personality and a writer in his own right. Broun died of pneumonia in 1939, aged 51.

Reviews

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

FULL DISCLOSURE: I am the publisher of this wonderful, obscure novel. It was originally published in 1923 and has been out of print until 2008. Heywood Broun is one of the great characters of the modern era - he was an active member of the Algonquin Roundtable, and was considered one of the wittiest and most intelligent writers of his time. He wrote for a wide range of newspapers and was one of the founders and first President of The Newspaper Guild. The Sun Field is highly autobiographical, with a thinly disguised main character who is Broun, another who is the woman he married (Ruth Hale, a brilliant writer and early feminist leader), and a baseball player clearly modeled on Babe Ruth. The story holds up very well, and resonates for modern readers. This edition has an introduction by novelist Darryl Brock.

[Melsene G · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is not really a "Babe Ruth" book but uses a character that is fashioned on Babe's prowess as a ballplayer. Tiny Tyler is a sort of Babe Ruth, but only on the field. George Wallace a retired journalist has a thing for Judith and Judith meets Tiny and they hit it off, pun intended. Judith marries Tiny and in no way resembles Helen or Claire, Babe's wives. This is more about the author and semi-autobiographical, and his writing about feminism and the 1920s. This book was published in 1923 and revived in 2008.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

The female character of Judith is exceptionally well done and interesting in a book that seems far more contemporary than 1923, it's original publishing date.

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a strange but charming novel by Heywood Broun, one of the most famous writers of his era but long forgotten today. "The Sun Field" -- out of print since it was first published in 1923 but restored by Rvive Books in 2008 -- revolves around a love triangle between the narrator, a frail newspaperman named George Wallace, the record-breaking home run king Tiny Tyler (loosely based on Babe Ruth), and the independent feminist writer Judith Winthrop (based on Broun's real-life wife, Ruth Hale.) Judith is the star of the book and its most fascinating character, and she offers significant insight into the turbulent evolution of women's lives in the Roaring Twenties. Her resistance against society's demands to make her an "honest woman" drive the plot -- but her impulsive marriage to the Ruthian ballplayer-hero is as unlikely as it sounds. Since the story is told from the often-jealous eyes of George Wallace, it also takes on the appearance of a cuckold fantasy, which gets old after a while. The simple-minded Tiny Tyler character is a caricature of Babe Ruth, although not necessarily an inaccurate one. Tyler's escapades on and off the field only scratch the surface of what the real Ruth must have been like. From a baseball perspective, there is some interesting foreshadowing here of Ruth's later marriage to Claire Hodgson and her impact on his life and career. Thankfully, the book is a quick read and is redeemed by Judith's vivacity and independent spirit. She is a tour de force and a memorable character in an otherwise unmemorable novel.

[Tammy]

Recommended in the book, Tolstoy and the Purple Chair: My Year of Magical Reading.

[William]

This is an overlooked gem of baseball literature from the 1920s, written by one of the first great American sportswriters, Heywood Broun. He somehow managed to use Babe Ruth as a literary symbol while the guy was still playing, early on in the Bambino's career as a slugger, even--1923 is the publication date. It's a sort of thought experiment: what if Babe Ruth was married to an intellectual feminist? It plays out as a meditation on the comparative merits of observation and analysis vs. active lived experience.

Thank you Rvive Books for getting this back in print!